The Year of the Firsts or Happy New Year Folks

Every time the new year comes by, I think to myself however stupendously refreshing the following year may be, it can never outdo the previous one... in the good way or the bad way. See, I don't handle change very well so much so that I have this ridiculous inertia to write the year's number correctly for like the first 4 months of the new year!!
So, like every year, I warn myself of change that is inevitable and also assuage myself that it wouldn't be as bad (or as good) as the previous one. So its always best to start off with zilch expectation, you'll see how far that takes you. Having said, one other thing every new year brings me, is its innumerable Firsts, be it nice-firsts or horrible-firsts. Its always worth remembering my Firsts and I'm sure its the case with you too.

'08 gave me my
My first tryst with Snow...
My first 9-gajam saree...
My first online fraternity (whom all I love a tad too much)
My first Hindustani concert in the 8th row of Music Academy..
My first Embedded systems job (that didnt last for more than 4 months)..
My first wedding (and the last one mind you..) ...
My first long stay away from my parents..
My first scooty accident which wasn't my fault..
My first concert...
My first Tam-Bram thaligai..
My first kamalAmba navAvarnam...
My first fight over Gmail..
My first Amma/Appa-I-miss-you mail..
My first sip of Margareta (read sip. And let that be the last one thank you very much)..
My first Album..
My first parasailing..
My first Chinese food (Yuck.Period.)
My first sister-in-law...
My first flu..
My first Elizabeth Arden..
My first Deepavali with a new family..

Try this too, in your head if you want, what your Firsts were. I'm sure you'll have some you could talk about. Its fun and worthwhile.

Wishing you all a fabulous year ahead,
Confounded-Lady :)

The Great Indian NRI

More than just its indigenous people, whats kept me intrigued all these years over America, is the Indians there.
*Disclaimer : At bottom of post
I've grown up all my life watching fellow Indian families yearning to become Americans like it were the sole purpose of their existence on Earth . No matter how frightful a disposition it were, this always made me wonder what it was about the Wild-West that was so bewitching.
I mean, there certainly were better places to live in. This I always knew and was sure of.
I thus commence without further evading my obligation as the babblefest queen of this blog.
The 80's and the early 90's ** were times of opportunity where opportunity meant just one thing -America.

If you were a dreamer, it meant that you dreamed of settling down in America. If you were smart, that meant you got to study in America . If you were ambitious, you were trying to get a job in any company as long as it was in America. If you were opportunistic, you were venturing out new arenas in America. If you were successful, that meant you had a house, a wife(who miraculously transformed from that shabby runny-nosed tramp near Sharada Vidhyalaya to a high society woman who drank 'occasionally' during all social occasions), kids with American accents (I mean what are kids without American accents, huh?) and of course not to mention, the most coveted of all, that Green colour card.

If you were just plain lucky, you somehow did finally manage to bring that ass of yours to America however undeserving you were, but then again you were having the last laugh.
The pressures of the 80's, as my Appa always says, is something we'll never understand.

The Gulf (excepting for Saudi which was/is, with no due respect, a concentration camp in its own right) was a happy place those days ** - albeit the wars 'n all- and was a prospective place for Indians dying to settle anywhere else other than India. I mean, eat this: you had to pay zilch tax, the Dinar was always stronger than the Dollar, fuel was cheap (these guys made oil...who're we trying to kid?), the roads were clean, no one spat on the roads, Local Sheikhs were fat, cute friendly people who couldn't tell a stock market from a flee market.

The Indian thrived here (more so the Mallu but I'm not going there) and couldnt have asked for more.

The Appa-of-the-Family however, wouldn't be satisfied with his job until he had a better one he could flaunt in front of his Indian relatives. This could only mean one place- even if it meant accepting a job profile he didn't quite fancy.

So, the Appa-of-the-Family would constantly apply day in and day out to companies all over America until he got the letter asking him to join as soon as possible, and if he didn't bag the prize, the consolation prize (Canada) would suit him very well, and one fine morning his kids would stop coming to school and their houses would be bolted, and before you could say OsamaBinLaden, he'd have migrated to Canada with his family and a secret wish never ever to return.

This was the most frequent scenario in the Gulf, more so in our compound. We'd always have new kids coming to play with us beside the pool, and after a short while had passed, they'd mysteriously just not turn up. When we'd go over to their place to check if they were alright, all we would see are white sheets over furniture and some boxes of clothes that looked familiar.

This was almost a routine for quite sometime, you know, not having constant friends because their Appas were 'ambitious'. I was ok with it I mean, as long as there was a constant flow of kids in the compound to play with. However, when I turned 11, my best friend Aditi was to leave to the US and thats when I was shattered. I hated her parents for having to leave such a beautiful community we were all a part of and I just couldn't forgive them. I swore to write to her everyday but I didn't have an address I could write to, not until they settled down in this unknown land where everyone I knew was headed to.

All this reinforced the fact that everyone, absolutely everyone wanted to move to America for some reason I and most certainly ,the Appa-of-my-Family didn't understand.

(To be Contd...

or do you really care?)

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*Disclaimer from top of post:The Blogger is blogging after a long, very long time and this is a long post (2 clauses have absolutely no relation what so ever but hear her out) If you're expecting a short and crisp post, shoo away.

**At the risk of sounding ancient

Well, it doesn't exactly feel like Diwali right now. I'd blame it on my whereabouts you see. I've not been taking too kindly with the way Indians celebrate Diwali in the US, but I could crib and complain all my way to Jersey Downtown and no one would bother.
Thats life you see. Sigh.

I'm kidding, I'm not really as miserable as I sound. This place is..n-n-n-ice.
(Fine I admit it!)

But for what its worth, Happy Deepavali O Confounded-Souls! Burst them all and...drink lots of water.

Love.

Lessons my Elders (didn't) teach me

Flushed with the success of conducting a grand TamBram wedding (if I may), all my parents have to now do is sit back and watch discerningly as to how their li'l girl survives her new life.

No, I don't really mean to make it sound like boarding school or rehabilitation, but marriage (or post-marriage to be more specific) is indeed a big deal for any Indian parent and an even bigger deal for any Indian parent's child. So, I am work in progress, every single minute of the day.
The thing with marriage *I go on to say in wisdomous tone, lowering spectacles so that it rests firmly on nose to give intellectual look* is that there are very many loopholes and..I'm afraid that there are somethings only experience can teach you.


For instance, they say that you ought to shed your ego, every ounce of it, when you're starting off a new relationship with your spouse. Heck every relationship can do well with little or no ego, but I'm restricting my insightful thoughts to marriage as for now, cos...everything now is about what I think about marriage isn't it?

Yes it is. That was just a rhetorical question.


So.
As I was saying, amongst all the precious pieces of advice the Elders from back home had given me, like smile, be nice, be friendly, be neat, be less finicky, don't frown, don't use chilly powder as weapon, don't be yourself, shop at Debenhams (just kidding), yada-yada-yada blah-blah, the most common words of wisdom I'd received was to shed my ego ( I travel with excess baggage, that's sometimes so not very nice) and be truthful if I didn't know something.

That is sane advice, yes I know. So before I leave to my husband's place, I resolutely practice my lines in front of the mirror, "Sorry, I don't know how to do that", "Sorry, I'm new at this, can you teach me?" or "No I've never made tea all my life..can you make your own tea for the first 10 years of our married life?"
See, that wasn't so difficult. Everything just needs a little practice. Even the non-ego part like the Elders said, can be conquered with just a little determination. Yay for me.
Or so I'd think.

But its not as easy as I thought it would be you know, this no-ego thing.

You see, humans have this inherent tendency to say 'I do' without even the slightest hesitation (if you're Ross Gellar, you're a pro and I'm not even talking about you).
Its not just the weddings, its everything else in normal life..in dealing with people, things, situations, especially when they're new... I've learnt that it takes a lot of courage and strong-will to say 'Nope, sorry, I really don't know how to'.

So the other day when V asked me if I know how to iron shirts, I say 'yes' so matter-of-factly like I was asked if I knew how to eat thayir-sadum.
I surprise me.
I mean, how good was I at ironing anyway?
Lets see..All my life my mom ironed my school-uniforms.
I'd ironed my Salwars to college, but that was just because I loved ironing over large flat surfaces, it made me feel nice. I never really cared how it looked even if it looked far more wrinklier after I was done with the iron-box.
Then there was always the ironing my clothes before packing, so that they'd fit perfectly into my suitcase. It was clearly another case of ironing out of desperation, so it didn't really matter whether they looked nice or not..as long as they fit neatly in a row.
Wait, there must be more.
Oh yes, I remember ironing my Appa's shirts before he'd leave for work.
I am now beginning to realise that he wore the shirts which I ironed to work without much of a grumble JUST to not hurt my feelings. No wonder he never removed his suit at work.... he'd get sacked if anyone saw how an Investment Banker dressed to work at this Bank!

So! Not even bothering to consider my promising past with the iron-box, I daintily trot to the iron-stand and pick up one of V's shirts that need ironing on my way.

I JUST then realise that I don't know where to start. I iron over the flat surfaces (and enjoy the good feeling like the 'ol salwar days), and stop at the sleeves. I really don't know where the crease ought to be. I mean, in a proper shirt where you go to work not expecting to get sacked the very next day for looking like rubbish.
Same with his trousers, where is the goddamn crease??? At the sides or at the front?

After ironing all the flat parts (something I can do as professionally now), I go up to V and tell him that my father was a good man for wearing what I ironed for him all these years.
V gets the picture, he's a fast learner.
I give my sheepish grin (another thing I can do quite professionally).
V irons his clothes to work for now..and makes his tea (for now). I love his tea.
I take care of the cooking, and the fire-alarms that go off during the process.

I'm yet to go up to him and ask him where the crease falls.

The After-math, the Cook-book and Me

Retrospection on a profound level leads me to the conclusion that I was never really a home-girl.
I've always deplored the word house-wife, even the very way the term was coined 'h-o-u-s-e' 'w-i-f-e'. I mean, lets face it...what in heavens name did you wish you convey by the word house-wife? That you were a wife at home? Weren't you his wife outside the house? Eew.

Yeneways, kutti digress there.
As a kid who was perpetually hyper and restless (excepting for the times when I was asleep where I'd look like a mad- driver-woman on Prozac). I always had something to do solely because the very thought of being bored scared me out of my wits as I always associated 'boredom' to 'loneliness'. So, despite being the only kid to my parents which always saddened me..(still does to a certain extent which is why I resolve to get busy in the near future in order to prevent history from repeating itself :D) I made sure that I never banked on my house or my parents for solace...I'd explore the neighbouring streets on my bicycle, go out on walks on my own, make friends with the watchmen and gardeners in our locality.. whatever it took to get me out of the house, even if it meant knocking on random people's doors and asking them, ingratiatingly, if I could play with their kids if they had any.
It was sad you know, that parents sent their 6 year olds to Hindi tuition. I think I learned more Hindi chatting with the watchmen and gardeners.

With such a manipulated state of mind that made me believe that one had a life only if it were outside the house, I grew up sympathizing all women who were house-wives, including my very dear granny and Mom. I'd ask my Mom time and again in the kitchen how they did it... How could one not go out, know places, meet people, get paid, get bankrupt, get into fights, get out of fights (the last two clauses were offered in copious amounts in our house..living with me is no joke mind you) how could you just be busy at home?'
I mean...with with due respect to what all the woman folk go through to keep a family running hale and healthy, how could you work, at home?? Wouldn't these 4 walls drive you plain mad?'

My Mom would just smile and ask me to switch on the exhaust fan on my way out.

A home-maker's job is no joke, I'm told, although I never try to understand the gravity of that statement more so because I know that the home-maker is never really..'me'.
I cant disagree with the fact that all of us are here, healthy and successful (to a certain extent at least) only because some woman/women in the house chose to care and see if we had food on the table and in our boxes everyday.

So as I pack my suitcases to a whole new world at the other side of the globe with a chunk of my stuff comprising of shiny non-stick vessels and brand new cook-books (the cook-book saga..ah! This surely deserves a post dedicated to itself), I still wonder to myself if I can map a vessel to its utility or turn the pages of Tarla Dalal's Continental Food Book without falling asleep looking at the picture on the front cover itself.

My colleagues from work will surely have fun reading this. They know.

:)

Two weeks notice

I've never actually been 2 weeks away from my wedding because...well, I've never really been married before. No one always gets to be 2 weeks away from one's wedding until he's actually... two weeks away from his wedding, so it isnt a very common feeling, this two weeks notice thing.
Cha, this isnt exactly the dream start for this post, but just to show you how I blog when I'm not very high on editing. I promise I'm going somewhere with this one though.*

The amount of activity that takes place during the last 2 weeks before a wedding makes me wonder if there WERE any weeks before the 2 weeks before the wedding. You know in an Indian Wedding its like, the whole world earnestly works towards making the wedding a grand success like they were producing a movie, but its just during these last 2 weeks that all of the action takes place.
I have a feeling I havent made an iota of sense till now but hear me out when I say that I am simply amazed at the speed at which things unravel during this period...its like all the work that had to be done gradually before a wedding, suddenly gets done in such an unimaginable pace during this period.

Picture this.
All my saree-blouses suddenly get stitched and come back home from the tailors who had them for like...forever, just because I say there are only 'two weeks left'.
My house maid has been working like an ox (I dont know if that simile conveyed what it had to...I never trust my self-made similies) cos its apparently crucial time now. Heck, she's started coming regularly...thats a miracle by itself.
Our Iyengar samayakaar-maami (cook) feeds me like a baby with all the possible greens, yellows, oranges, pinks (didnt think I'd list colours without a pink did you?) in the world 'cos I'll be leaving home soon.
My neighbors *actually* smile at me when they spot me in the elevator. (Wow)
Appa is extra jovial. (Now that I'm not particularly comfortable with. The folks are already relieved I'm leaving.. And I havent even left yet. hmph!_max)
Everyone on the never-ending list's finally been invited and I'm mentally tired of revising the list to make sure I haven't left anyone out. I sent out the last batch of invitations today. Amen to that. And I thought this day would never come.
The most common words uttered by every random woman who enters my house is 'Rendu vaaram thaan iriku baaki la? :O ' (For the uninitiated in Tamil, "Just two weeks left no 'Colon-wo'?" )

I'm very evidently getting psyched now. You can tell from the sense I've made so far (or the lack of it). Actually, I dont think you'd know the difference if you know me by now.

But do you blame me?
I'm getting married....in two weeks!
:O

*Or then again maybe not.

A for Ahemedabad

B for Bangalore

C for China?!


See, thats why I wish Chennai were just Madras. Would buy us some time no?

To us

I don't know how many of you are aware of the fact that Randy Pausch died.
Actually, I'm not really sure how many of you are aware of Dr.Randy Pausch in the first place 'cos I wasn't, till last night.

I really didn't care that some arbit person passed away miles and miles away from where I am sitting, but its surprising how much I do, now. It really is.

Watch this now, you will too.You'll thank me...just like I thank the person who sent me the link.
Watch it, watch it WATCH IT... please watch it if you haven't.

The 'Headfake learning', the 'Brickwall' lesson.... these are lessons that will stay with you forever. Send me your comments if you did watch it.

Be happy.
Always.

Mic please..

So I've tried and tried AND tried to put something up here for quite a while but in vain and all I can boast of, as for now, is a big fat drafts-section in which I can proudly proclaim that I've probably exhausted all the possible 'n+23' ways to start a fresh post. Its taken me THIS long to come back here and I don't quite intend on making this an I've-Not-Been-Blogging-oflate-Because.. post , considering that disappearing and re-disappearing is so much a part of Confounded-Lady's life.
Syaad I know.

Yenihoo, I finally post. Not that its post-worthy material, its a post.

So now that we're convinced that this IS a post and I can assume that you'd accept whatever I write here, I don't think I have to bother with the minute details of the various frivolities of life.

Like say, you wouldn't be interested in Confounded-Lady's daily confrontation with a 60 year old driving instructor who screams for his dear life when she crosses 25km/hr...would you?

Or perhaps...the humour she's s attempted to locate in sharing a house with a 16 year-old teenage NRI kid who's fashion sense would give Paris Hilton a run for her money (or another run to jail :P ) or even better, make Confounded-'ol-Lady look like an archaic work of art from the Medieval ages.
(I love you Divya/Dipsu-kutti anyways)...

.....Or how about being terrified of the newly hired servant-maid who constantly yells at CL for changing the place of the broomstick from behind the kitchen to..well, somewhere behind the kitchen where Maidy-dear couldn't bother to look till Confounded Lady saves the day...

I still think that watching 16 year old Dipsu-kutti get her hair coloured dark-red at Maha's is worth a separate post, 'cos I'm yet to get over the fact that my family heirloom does comprise of some twisted fashion-sense-DNAs after all and not just the traditional 9-gajam way of thinking. Goooooo Dipsu!

Ok..yayy, you've got me all excited. :D
So where do I start?

Hi

:D

Who will cry when you cry

Have you ever thought and thought over something so much, that it hurt?
So much so ,that it leaves you staring at the ceiling wondering if you're on the verge of going insane.

Sometimes all you see is all pervading madness around you, even though its ironically just
confined to the realms of your head. You've tried looking at things with an open-mind so much so that you feel that your head's almost falling apart from all that open-ness.

You feel like you're losing it and are dying for some perspective.
Any perspective, as long as its not yours b'cos you've had too much of that and it kills you.
You start to act all clandestine hoping that someone picks up signals and listens to what you're not saying.
Sometimes that doesn't really work, so you try to reach out to you're friends and talk to them, ask them if you are losing it after all, without having them be all judgmental and think that you're on a one way trip to banana-land.

But it isn't all that easy finding a listener, is it?
Who do you confide in? Not all you're million friends are listeners. The difference between the both hits you like a bus on the road now. Problems in life aren't rare, so everyone may not be particularly generous in sympathizing with you. You don't blame them though- after all, to each his problem. You therefore start convincing yourself into not making a big deal out of this and just wait patiently till your head stops spinning. Which it doesn't.
So you just wait, for nothing actually.

Yet amidst all this, someone finds you- a friend, a not-so friend, a random guy who sat beside you on the white bench at the park, someone on your friend's list you haven't struck a conversation with, someone you don't know. Someone you have absolutely no pretensions with, someone who makes you just split wide open, someone you can just talk to- without the slightest iota fear or shame, someone who breaks the dam, someone who thinks and puts your perspective in place. Someone who's like a ray of light in that tunnel. Someone who listens.

Things that scared you all this while now start to make some sense, if not all, with a lil bit of help from someone. Any someone.
The clarity you missed all this while brings a smile to your face. You feel like its rained on your garden after years. You know that it is possible to share some things with some people and not end up feeling like a fool at the end of it.

And suddenly life doesn't seem all that bad. Life isnt really all that bad come to think of it.
Its all about finding someone though.

I am not facing a Writer's Block.

I am not.
I am not.
I am not.

Friggin Insomnia.
Cha.

Mom, don't click that.

I've always been weary of my mom knowing her way around the Internet. Not that I had any problems with her snooping around my desktop or my folders which are an in-house for all those love-letters I got during my school and college days*, its just that I've always thought that the Internet was a pretty un-safe place for the likes of my mom who is perpetually intrigued by its nuances and hops from one site to another on a continual basis.

We've come a long way, my mom's love for the Internet and I. She was a fast learner right from the beginning, as in right from the day I taught her how to hold the mouse and convinced her that she wasn't going to get anywhere useful unless she looked at the monitor and not at her right hand on the mouse. Did I mention fast learner? Funny.
But yes she's evolved enormously. She now chats with my chithis and perimas using smileys 'n all with such enviable ease :O (albeit the typos *straight-face*)
Now that's my mom! You go gurl!! :D

However, whats irked me of late is a new friendship request she accepted, unintentionally. His name is Aneesh Gopee and I haven't the faintest idea how he chanced upon my Mom's Yahoo! ID that too when herYahoo! ID is predominantly known to maamis only, with an average age 56.5 (there you go, clean stats). I don't think I can fetch the right words to describe her contacts amongst the maami circle. The popular joke at home is 'Are you maami? Mylapore a?? Srinivasar Kovil a? Besh..Thats nice. What did you say your email ID was ?' :P

So coming back to the anonymous franseep request, considering that Aneesh is not maami and neither is he 55, I was starting to get really disturbed to see his ID in my mom's friend's list. When I asked my mom what on earth she was thinking when she accepted his request, I get a classic 'Therila di.....I was trying to close the window and get it done with, so I kept clicking on finish'.
Classic reply indeed :P

He's apparently seen my mom online today and asked her her age and whether she was a doctor or something. Talk about class pickup lines :P I was there with my mom when that message popped up.I don't remember the conversation following that cos I was extremely busy rolling over the floor laughing, but my mom happened to very neatly convince him that she was a doctor. She stopped typing after he started asking questions of course, but I've had my laughter quotient for today.
For this week actually.

I cant wait till she goes online tomorrow...or I could perhaps fill in for her?
Now there's a thought.

I don't know...Life's been the least bit boring of late.

* Last I heard that my mom visits this blog regularly. I was just kidding about the love-letters ma, you didn't have to faint for that. Please get up now... you still have to teach me how to make malai-kofta *colon-pipe*

Days of our Lives

Much against popular assumption of the masses that yours truly is no where to be seen in the eyes of the public because she is insanely busy shopping her guts out for the 'impending Big event*' (iBE) , I would like to strongly refute by saying that shopping is least of the things I'm doing in this godforsaken fAreen country.

Well.. Ok, if you do take into account the tonnes of Twix bars I've devoured, some 9 tops, cargos, and that $40 pair of jeans I've bought from Debenhams , yes I have been doing a some amount of justice to the feminine side of me, but thats nothing in the eyes of my friends and relatives in India who think that I've come to this country 'wonly' to shop for the 'iBE*', when the truthful purpose behind my visit here is to just spend time with my dad and mom. It doesn't make a difference where I am you know, I'll shop till I drop where ever I am. Hmph.

So what exactly am doing if I'm not robbing all ye shops of your riches :O?
See we're just an Aapee family spending all the time we can get indoors watching SunTv and AsiaNet while I twiddle my thumbs and wait for my most favouritest show on SunTV and AsiaNet(where there is incidentally no such thing) to be telecast. In other words, I have no purpose sitting in front of the Telly too, so it all comes down to just sitting in the living room and watching crap on TV, but enjoying it just the same 'cos we're all watching it 'together', which is a rarety in the very thought. See, that why I love this trip despite the all pervading nothingness. I think.
This joy of sitting in a full house, however, is shortlived as I fear that my Visa expires in a few weeks time and I'll have to go back to an incomplete home. I'll try not to forget to blog on my sorrow then. You just try not to forget to read it. :D

*Sigh*...I missed this space, the yellowness, the orange-ness, the whiteness, the confounded-ness.

Oh well, life is a lot more peaceful at the moment and that sadly gives me less reason to crib and even more sadly, lesser reason to blog. Peace.
Reminds me of a quote from the Holy Bhagavad Githa...

'Always be grateful for your cookies for tomorrow the cookie monster
might take 'em away'

Ok I think I overdid the Bhagavad Githa bit trying to sound all maha intellectual 'n all, so sue me. Nevertheless, I SO think the above line would have sound groovy in Latin or in Sanskrit. What do you think?

*iBE: Think of the biggest event in an Indian family's life. Now double it. Yes, thats the impending Big Event

Be afraid...very afraid.

On May Day today, Confounded-Lady turns one.
The last one year has been a whole lot of fun
But there's a LOT more where this came from (Mayday indeed :P )
Dum-di-dum dum, Dum-di-dum dum.

My Not-so-secret affair with Typos

Geek and I recently came to a conclusion that there are 3 types of typos in this world.

1. The Typo-typo (TT)
2. The Word-typo (WT)
3. The Smiley-typo (ST)

I would have stopped with this customarily (yeah right) but since you're still in this page reading this...this.......and oh yes, this too............. I will elaborate with a few FAQs.

I) Typo-typo
1) err... sorry, but what is a Typo-typo?
Oh, simple. This one is the spelling typo, the quintessential typo everyone commits. The 'o' instead of the 'i', the 'e' instead of an 'r'... they're very very common in IM especially if you type sooper fast like me.

2) Ok...So?
So...your chat transcript would look like this:

Friend1: So how are you feeling these days? Recovering from that nasty allergy?
Me: No. I'm feeling very colon-pope these days
Friend1: (silent)
Me: Chs....I meant colon-pipe
(Silence....A few seconds later)
Me: Cha...I meant cha
(A moment later)
Friend1: Are you done? *straight face*

3) So how should I feel after committing a typo-typo?
Relax...its not like you've killed the US president (if you did, can we hire you?)
If I were you, I'd just ignore this typo and pretend like it never happened. No need to cover up with the 'cha', 'oops', '* 'n all.
Its a waste of time.

4) So what do I do, really?
Nothing, don't bother with anything. Your partner/friend/girlfriend/not-so-girlfriend/foe/boss(ouch) is going to figure out what you were trying to say anyway.
So chill.

5) Peace. Can we go ahead with the next typo then?
Yes we can.

II) Word-Typo (WT)
1) Word-typo va? What the hell is that?
This one is the most abominable of all typos.
Its when you type the wrong word instead of the one you were planning on typing. Its a very painful typo to endure..particularly when you're the one committing it. A few of these in your IM transcript, you can be instantly declared as the I'm-trying-to talk-Englees-but-its-blowing-up-royally-on-my-face king of the community.

2) Come on...how on earth would you type the wrong word while IM'ing?
Sometimes when you think really fast and your fingers try to compete with the speed of your thought process, you end up typing words that 'sound' like the ones that actually ought to be there. And as Murphy would have it (in some way or the other), the word you've put down will have absolutely no relation whatsoever with the one you intended on putting down.

3) Eh? Double Eh??
For instance you'd end up typing an 'after' instead of a 'have to' because these two happen to sound quite similar.

So instead of typing I 'have to' stop at Mylapore on my way there,
You'd end up typing I 'after' stop at Mylapore on my way there

Not very enjoyable I tell you.

3) Christ! Do people actually commit such typos? Do you ?
Do I?
God, that is all I do on IM these days.
I don't know how or why but of late my chat transcripts are full of WTs...is it probably because I'm thinking faster these days than usual?

See, this is one of the reasons why I'd rather not IM someone I wish to keep in good spirits. I prefer the telephone if I'm yet to impress you.

4) God! :O This sounds like a malicious typo. How does it feel?
If you instantly identify your WT, you'd sometimes not even feel like going back and correcting it for fear of answering the embarrassing question 'Huh...how on earth did you put that word there?'
However, its a totally different story if you don't identify the WT at all.
I'm at total shame when I think of the WTs I've committed and NOT identified till very recently..because of which I hesitate to go back and read some old enjoyable transcripts with some good friends.

This following instance is the most nefarious of the lot.
Note: The word 'you' is a WT instead of the word 'to'

KindFriend: We have these wonderful music sessions every weekend. You could join us if you want to :-)
Me: Oh wow...I'd love you
(few seconds pause)
KindFriend(terribly confused) : err..sure..whatever.

Not a pretty scene no?

5) Ouch, yes. I see what you mean, So what do I do to obviate such WTs? I'd like to keep my friends you know :P
Yes, yes, I understand perfectly... the only way out, is reading what you've typed and THEN pushing the Enter button.
I won't be doing that though. Too much of a waste of time. :P

6) Ok, and the last typo?

III) The Smiley-typo
1) Let me guess...its by putting the wrong smiley?
Well yes, you got it.
But its not too harmful or anything to your reputation. So you can just put the right smiley following the wrong one.

2) You *actually* make smiley-typos 'n all? Christ!
Its not my fault. *all defensive now*
Sometimes different IM clients use different character combinations for their smileys.
For instance, :-x is the angry smiley in Orkut.
While :-x is the 'falling in love smiley' in Yahoo!

3) *yawn*...so?
So, I wouldn't exactly be conveying what I wanted to in Yahoo! if I said:

Me: God, you're so infuriating I could throw my bookshelf on you
":-x"

4) Ah, I get the picture. So what do I do to not make a Smiley-typo?
Just remember which client your using. Simple.

5) Ok, thank you. That was indeed very enlightening. You're the best blogger in the world and I love you. Are you done?
Yes. I am done, thank you very much.
But sometimes its really worth committing a typo you know. Any typo.
Geek and I have laughed our guts out for hours looking at the typos we make.

Try it yourself.
The more preposterous the typo, the harder you laugh and the harder you fall off your chair

Happy typ(o)ing.
Till then, its Confoundud-baby saying 'wood-dye' to all of 'yoi'. :-x
:D

...Oh, here comes another one (with that Rachel Green accent)

Wolfkid and Preets had tagged me like a gazillion years ago.
I think I slept through all that time..and its just dawned on me that these tag posts seem to be so so 'in' these days...and that I'd better be 'it' before I'm 'out'.
You didnt get 'that' did you?
No probs, neither did I.

I am now konjum romba senti today as I've been listening to Pibarae rAma rasam in rAg Ahir Bhairavi the whole day. This song has it in it to make you all silent, reminiscent, mushy..and perhaps bit more 'blue' if you miss someone you really..well, miss.
Its really a must listen.
If you're (still) interested in listening to this song after the 'yellow' description I've given you, don't hesitate to dial toll free: I-WANT-TO-BE-BLUE(er)-AND-MISS-MY-GIRLFRIEND
Kidding, mail me..I'll send it to you with pleasure. (This should be interesting)

OK- you might want to give it a try even though you pretend you don't miss xg.

Enough awready. Tag. Yes.


1. Last movie you saw in a theater?
...Laga Chunari Mein Daag.
And I liked it. hmph.

2. What book are you reading?
The Mahabharatha by Rajaji. Started it at least 5 times within these 3 years.
I'm finishing it else I'm...well, I'm finishing it.

3. Favorite board game?
Scrabble. I used to make words up and try and win when I was a kid. No its not cheating *straight face*
'Zittle' was the adjective used for small/baby animals according to Yours Pretentiously when she was 7 years old :P

4. Favorite magazine?
India Today.

5. Favorite smells?
SambarANi on washed hair :)

6. Favorite sounds?
My mom yelling my name :D

7. Worst feeling in the world?
Regret having said something..or even worse, having not said something to someone.

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
Christ..have I overslept.

9. Favorite fast food place?
TCS Chaat counter, Velacheri Madras. But not without the gang. *sigh!*

10. Future child’s name?
I am so not telling you. Don't want anyone to steal my lil Emma :D

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?"
I'd spend it all on charity and World Peace.
Crown please?

12. Do you drive fast?
Depends on what fast is for you. No, really.

13. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Nope. Simple.

14. Storms - cool or scary?
Sexy

15. What was your first car?
Car a? Naana? Yeah right.

16. Favorite drink?
Orange Juice

17. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?
..become a doctor.
Confounded, yeah yeah,

18. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
I don't eat broccoli.

19. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
I'm fine with the way it is thank you very much.

20. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?
Madras and Bahrain.

21. Favorite sports to watch?
I cannot watch cricket even if it were the last thing to be screened before the end of the world. I'm fine with anything else.

22. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
Preets-I've known her ever since I was old enough to say Peepee and Dolly. She's family. I love family.
Wolfkid- Hey, thambee. You're okay kid :)

23. What’s under your bed?
A lot of ..space..? :-/

24. Would you like to be born as yourself again?
Tosh! I'm not being born again in this pot-hole....I'm getting moksha. Oh yeah!

25. Morning person, or night owl?
Depends :D

26. Over easy, or sunny side up?
What was that again please...?

27. Favorite place to relax?
Home and 'Home' :D

28. Favorite pie?
Apple from McDonalds.

29. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Pista.

30. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond:
I think I'm the last one to do this tag in my circuit. That should answer your koshchin.

I dedicate the space occupied by this post along with all the mirth I was most likely to have experienced doing this, to the taggers. BEE happy, always.
And the rest of you non-taggers....well, you BEE happy too, with a lot of yellow and orange (and a bit of black too) in your lives.

Till then, let the all pervading confoundedness lead your way from darkness to light.
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi:

CL

Ok, lets see..

1. Got up quite early this morning -before my dad actually (which is inhumanly early) and almost killed him with the heart-attack he got, on seeing me roam about the house in the wee hours of the morning.
*2 Aapee points (I think)

2.Told amma I'll take care of 'all' the cooking 'today' while she can rest for the whole day.
She wasn't particularly amused.
See thats why Ekadasis are extra special.
*1 Aapee point (*smug look*)

3. Banged my toe against the same door I banged it against the day before.
"Ooooowwwwch" doesn't seem to be strong enough a word.
*2 Not-so-Aapee points

4. Made call to India and spoke to friend for 30 minutes. Me the happy. >:D<
*2 Aapee points

5. Realised that I do have some matter to blog on after all, but am too lazy to blog.
Shame shame Confounded-Dame.
*3 Not-so-Aapee points

6. Learnt a new song in rAgam ShadvidamArgini. She has such a beautiful scale..and *such* a beautiful name.
Me the sooper happy.
*3 Aapee points

7. Almost deleted mail from Mr.Fiance thinking it was spam :O
Note to self: Must get used to important mails in mailbox for a change
*5 Not-so-Aapee points

So that leaves me with.... Net 2 Not-so-Aapee points today :O

*colon-pipe*

Think I should blog more often and not bang my toe against the door over two days consecutively.
Or..perhaps make more ISD calls to buds in India and petrify my dad more frequently in the mornings? :-/

I don't know. You do the math.
I'll do the honours.

:D

That post without a Title

Confounded-lady is back!!
Thunder, lightening, creepy-music and 'bwahahahaha'.

(That was evil-laughter just in case you bothered to read that)

Not that anyone missed me (if you did, for the record, I love you), but contrary to the normal alibis I see these days for not being able to blog; say for instance, lack of time (which is not even remotely my problem these days. grr), not getting the right flow of thought (whatever thats supposed to mean) and the like, I actually did have plenty of intellectually stimulating topics I wanted enlighten my readers on but was in a dilemma as to which one to discuss. No, really..

*straight face*

Ok, I hear you. You can stop laughing now lest you fall of your chair. I'm already being accused of trying to impair every one's vision with the bright shades of my blog. I don't wish to do you any (more) harm.
So enough already.

I thus commence .
I've been tagged by fellow bloggers Busy-writer and Preets.
According to OK's Law of Crapping, Engineers cut to the chace without much useless banter. Under normal circumstances this would be konjum kashtam given the very purpose of this blog, but I seriously do wish to abide by this rule considering that this may tragically be the only testimony to me having endured 4 educative years of Engineering.
The question for us engineers is after all, to BE or not to BE, no?

No??

hmph. I'll just shut-up and get along with the Tag then. :P

Some 10 random points about me which no one knows. I doubt if there are that many actually, so I'll do 6. Peace.

1. :-)
I'd like to think that my obsession over smileys is unparalleled. I very rarely type stuff on the Internet without a smiley at the end. Smileys make me happy. Well, so does chocolate but you don't care do you.
Yahoo! is a beautiful experience altogether. I'm forever in love with Colon-dee, the way it blinks its eyes. :D :P >:D< ;;) these are my favourite smileys, in the same order.

2. My Impeccable Memory
My memory can be bench-marked with Gajini (of Gajjini fame) and you'll find that I indeed am endowed with depressingly pathetic memory skills. I forget names. I forget birthdays. I forget rAgas. I sometimes forget what I was going to enter next while chatting (someone might know what I mean :D )
I personally think its because I think a lot, rapidly. My thought process is very fast and I end up thinking a trillion things within a short span, so there is perhaps just too many to recollect.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Is there anything healthy about a bad memory?

3. Growing up and being paranoid
I just refuse to accept that I'm growing up. I find it terribly agonizing you know. I'd like to stay young forever, 22 would be ideal. These days I find a lot of people calling me akka. Kids in the tempe call me aunty. grr_max. Everyone grows old up, I know.. but I still yearn for for Neverland. :

4. I was called Swetha once upon a time.
Actually, I was called 'sweater' in school. Not that I minded much.
Mommy-dearest gets a brainwave one fine morning in 1990 and decides that I should be called 'Jennifer Lopez' from then on (name changed to protect identity). The rest like they say, is mystery.

5. I leave the house with the I-don't-give-a-damn look.
It really pains my mother so to say. And offlate my 15 year old fashion-queen cousin who happens to live in the same building as me. Divya (name NOT changed to protect identity) was visibly appalled by the orange butterfly clip I wore to her party at Caesar's'. Poor thing. I don't blame her though. I too sometimes think that orange and black just don't go together. :P

6. I am that Bulb-Goddess you always feared .
I don't think this will be a major surprise to people who know me well. I just don't get things instantly-whether they're jokes, witty comments whatever. Even a fast conversation leaves me twiddling my thumb.
Once when I was on a bulbing-high, someone asked if I was feighning my confused state. :P
I said yes and changed the topic. That still cracks me up. :P
I am konjum slow and trust me, I'm not at all proud of it. :

7. I am skeptical of the Internet. Period.
When it comes to making friends or developing a good relationship, I am wary of the Internet. I think the Internet is the most precarious medium and cannot/should not be banked upon. There have been quite a few exceptions off late, but I think they are too good to be true.
The probability of a misunderstanding or baseless assumption is maximum on communication over the Internet. I will perhaps blog more on this. Or maybe, I won't.


There. I could rattle my head and come up with a few more..but I have a feeling I might have lost you somewhere in point#4 itself. So this should very well do for now.

Hope I'd done you girls proud. This space is dedicated to you .
I tag anyone who's facing a writer's block currently.

Take care, and say hi to your mom for me :D

Yours confoun'deadly',
Me.

Geographic coordinates: 26 00 N, 50 33 E

Location: Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia

Climate: arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers

This place used to be Home for me. It still is..in some sense.

Ah, it feels great to be back Home. It certainly does.

Yet...I have a feeling that I still miss 'Home'.

I miss 'Home'.

Do you like...get me?

..And then there were None.

Author's Note:
This post is long. Quite long. But please don't stop reading in the middle .
And oh yes, any resemblance to real life characters is merely purely PURELY coincidental. Really.

*****************************************

She wasn't late for work. She never was.

But that never stopped her from speeding down Kasthoori Ranga road which was her favourite road in Madras solely because of the speed at which she could drive her Blue-Scooty. The luscious greenery on both sides, the conspicuous absence of gargantuan lorries and the tireless stretch of smooth cement for as far as the eye can see, was more than just an enticing reason to adopt that route to work. Driving and speeding had never been this peaceful before.

She knew the route to work like the back of her hand. Well everybody who took the same route to work did, but she'd known the nature and the soul of that area so well that she subconsciously knew all the spots at which she had to slow down or speed. And it worked each 'n everytime, everyday. She was the master of that route, she knew.

Her mind was the busiest during this time. She would hum a different tune every 30 seconds, try an aalaap for an exotic rAga for the next 120 seconds, think of a friend she'd recently gotten to know and like, reminisce over good times with old friends, try memorizing a DIshitr krithi, wonder what her dad would be doing at this time at home- such a multifaceted array of thoughts, however, never once concentrating on the road and its traffic.
She prided herself for that, for being able to maneuver her vehicle down even the toughest roads of Madras, with such admirable ease and agilance.
That too inspite of her her rash driving.

'Touch wood' is what she'd smile and say when people gasped at her abominable speed on the roads, and she'd immediately lift her right hand and touch her head.

Today was no different. The rAga on her lips today, was vArAmu. Such an enchanting rAgA would have customarily made her close her eyes and surrender but she was after all, driving. She sang, neverthelss, as loud as possible, knowing that at 07:30 AM there would be no one on the roads to turn around and give her the 'huh-what-the..' look.

Half way through Kasthoori Ranga road now, there was still a long way to go. She brought herself to see the road in front of her and register . But for a sinfully beautiful Black Skoda far in front of her Blue Scooty, it was just her vehicle on the road. Just as always.
Lovely.

But all of a sudden the Black Skoda in front of her, came to a halt. A sudden stop.

Ok, this was too sudden. Too unexpected.
Why did the car stop?? Why did it friggin stop??
There wasn't any signal in front..not for miles, and there wasn't any vehicle in front of it either... and what were the chances of an old blind-deaf-dumb lady crossing a usually-desolated road at 7:30 AM in the morning??? Zilch??

Crap..She now had to stop her Scooty. And fast. And how!
Thoughts rushed through her mind as she quickly scrambled for the brakes.

As she was fast approaching it, she had a look at the Car. It was far too shiny and far too beautiful be crashed against. She tried to maneuver her vehicle to the right without skidding and managed to pull the brakes in time, probably saving her from being thrown head over the Skoda-however not without a significant crash at the Car's posterior and a terrible fall.

The next few minutes were a dream. She lay there on the road, with the Blue-Scooty on top of her. Motionless....

(To be continued..)

...And then there were None- II

(...contd.)

Startled by the sudden jolt at the back, 3 men came out of their Car.

She waited for help as she lay sprawled on the ground with the Scooty's weight on top of her, but the 3 men just stood still. She knew better than to ask for help, so she pulled out her left arm from somewhere underneath and pushed the Scooty's weight off her body and got up on her own.
She felt thorroughly numb.

The three men stood majectically staring at her. She took a look at the men with the very little strength she had. One of them was in his early thirties -perhaps a newly wed? Like she cared anyway. The second one was not more than 22. Smart. He looked like one of those college studs who'd bunk class to get his hair bleached or his butt tattooed.
The third fella was the Car's driver clad in white. One happy family. How nice, she thought sarcastically.
"Well?" said the mid-thirties gentleman. " Now that you're up and running, lets see what you've done to my car".

She suddenly felt dizzy.

She was now visibly petrified, as she watched the man move to the back of the car..fervently hunting for a dent or a scratch, while the other Young-Lad stood there staring at her- from head to toe. She immediately felt a wave of nausea run through her. She'd have normally stared back at him with her award-winning mean eyes, but she was far too much in a state of shock now.
She just stood still, waiting for someone or something to rescue her.

There was nothing there, at the back of the car. Nothing. No scar. Not even a mark. No wonder these cars were bloody expensive, she thought. Despite having a Two-wheeler crash against it, there was absolutely sign of damage on that automobile. Neat, she thought. She thanked her stars silently and felt like crying immediately.

The man lifted is head and spoke.

"I think you've escaped this time. You're a lucky girl", he said nonchalantly. "For the money I've paid, this Car is starting to make me feel good afterall".
He laughed out loud at his own joke.

She stood still. Speechless. She still couldn't imagine how 3 fully grown men could be so callous and indifferent towards a lady who's just survived a fatal fall. That too when the Car had got away scot-free. She suddenly wished that the Car has been smashed to smithereens. But this itself was getting her into hot water. Boiling hot water that too.

Just when she was starting to feel relieved she heard a second voice.
"Wait, not so fast "
It was the College-guy this time. "Let me have a proper look, Kiran. I'm sure there's a dent-somewhere. We heard the crash na? " and he went about his turn, hunting fervently for signs of damage.

She gazed at the all pervading apathy the prevailed there. Signs of petrification vanished. She was now starting to feel the indignation brewing inside her. But she stood still and said nothing.

"Ah, there..see? I told you, Kiran. There's a scratch. Here" said College-Boy pointing at something that couldn't even be seen by the naked-eye.

Kiran came running down to see the scratch he'd failed to see earlier. Both of them took their time analysing a frailfully grey mark that looked like a strand from granny's head.
The driver meanwhile, came up to her and asked her if she was alright and got her Scooty up from the ground. She thanked him with a half-wide smile.

"But that scratch was there from before no, Nikhil?" said Kiran, sounding a bit confused.
" No no no....now only. This female has crashed against your Car and caused this scratch. Ok, so how do we settle this now?"
It was clearly evident. Nikhil was pure evil.

"Nikhil, I don't think we should complicate things. Police, insurance... no yaar. Its just a scratch yaar. Leave it"
That was Kiran. God bless the very Devil, she thought.

"Arrey...what are you saying? You payed 13 lakhs to get your Car damaged by some crazy female? Well, I'm not gonna let you"

This was the last straw. And she now spoke.

" Excuse me Mister", she said politely. She instantly regretted addressing the vagabond as 'Mister'. Probably nitwit would have sufficed.
"There is 'absolutely' no damage on your Car from this accident, except for the scars all over my body. Your Car is just the way is was before my Scooty crashed against it. There. Your brother Kiran said so himself. Have a proper look again if you want. Your Car is fine. Really."

Kiran stood silent.

" Shut up female. I wasn't even f***ing talking to you", snorted Nikhil.

Ok, this was too much. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was foul language. That too thrown at her. She now began to scream like a mad woman.

" Mister, mind your language. Don't you DARE use that tone with me. Do you understand? Don't you DARE!"
She was now yelling at the top of her voice. And trembling.

"Oh yeah? Well, I WILL. What will you f***ing do about it?" Nikhil had a cynnical smile on his face. Yes, he was the Devil himself.

She looked at the Kiran and the driver with sheer disgust. They were both very clearly ashamed of the young-lad's behaviour. But both stood motionless. Cowards. She stood there for a while. And then spoke.

" I'll tell you what I'll do about it" she said, suddenly.

And saying thus, she swiftly walked towards her Scooty, kick-started it, and within a 6 seconds time-span , off she sped, away in the direction of Kasthoori Ranga Road leading to Cathedral Main Road, leaving the 3 mean gaping from behind.

She sped like crazy for the next 10 minutes, with a smile on her face. She was right.
There was absolutely NOTHING they could do about it.

That post did help a lot.
More than I expected.

Thanks for answering my calls guys.

:D

Talk to me no?

Rite, so whats up?
Nothing??

I'll tell you whats up. Off late, a lot of my friends from the Not-so-Fairer sex (pun intended like never before) have mysteriously disappeared and stopped talking to me. See, this is unfair. I'm just engaged you know. Not like I've been accused of murder or am down with small-pox or something. I can talk. Yes, to you. Very much.
So talk to me no?

Guys suddenly get this thing with committed ladies, I notice. They think they're infringing upon public property if they're still talking to an engaged/married girl. Sad na? Tsk-tsk.
Yes, I know, its every Reggie Mantle 's worst nightmare to get beaten up by Moose when all he's doing is having a friendly banter with Midge.... but seriously, Moose isn't so Moosey you know. So , whats with the disappearing act?
Talk to me no?

My girlfriends. I shouldn't go ahead with this post without their mention.
They have been extra sweet 'n all with me by still generously calling me up time and again to ask me if I'm making the whole thing up just to attract attention. See, that's what best friends are for. What would I do without you gurls? :P
There's another set of girlfriends that's not been talking to me off late as they feel that they'd be 'wasting my time' -as they put it- at this point.
"Huh" you say? Yeah, I say that too.
How would my gurlfriends be wasting my.... (sniff).. Oh crap, You've got me all teary now.
Screw you. I'm going shopping now. :P
But seriously, talk to me no?

See, if you'd just talk to me, I'd talk to you, and I could tell you how boring interesting my life is and you can tell me how interesting yours is. Exciting no? Just imagine all the fun we're depriving ourselves just because you're not talking to me.
Talk to me no?


Listen, I'm not as desperate as I sound.

No, really.

Ok, maybe a bit.

Actually a bit more...

Wait..can you repeat the question ?

Shady, Very Shady

Ok..so how different is my life now anyway?
Not very, really.
Except for the 'Neeya??!!? Kalyanam aa?? Bwahahahahaha ' reaction I seem to be receiving from my friends time and again (@friends :P), everything is peach normal.

Lets see now. Recent excitement contributed by mad mad shop-hopping which has made me all the more gleeful and happy. Nothing like seeing money float in the air (a bit creepy when its your money though). But you know, I never thought that shopping could leave me so pooped at the end of the day that I was too tired to even life my feet off the ground….To lie down of course (what were you thinking?)

A few interesting lessons shopping with family has taught me.


1. Enlightenment #1.
Sarees look gorgeous in shops. Gorgeous with a capital Gee. They're meant to.
But it's a different thing 'looking' gorgeous in them. When you're 153 centimetres short tall, a saree around you sometimes looks like a quilt wrapped around a pencil, or an eraser for that matter. Sad I know. But my family members are always supportive and diplomatic. And I go ahead with buying the most gorgeous ones in the shop anyway without the slightest bit of remorse.


2. Enlightenment #2.
My addiction to pink is a potential embarrassment to family. Being lured towards all the pinks in the saree section, ok understandable. But constantly groping the pink shirts in the men's section??
You think I have a problem??
Yeah, join the club. I need help. And how!
Ideas perhaps, anyone?


3. Enlightenment #3
Must confront conflicting choices regarding breathtaking colours in saree shop.
Not a wise move to ask person-at-saree-section 'Inda saree nannarikuma, ilati iduva?'
(Translate: This one will look nice..or this one?)
He will say, 'Rendumae edthukonga, wonga colour-ku wo-ho-nnum irikum'
(Translate: Take both ma, they both suit your complextion'
Yeah right, like we're gonna fall for that one. Ha! *conceited smirk*
I'm sure we can choose between Jyothika-Pinks and MS (MSubhalakshmi)- Blues on our own thank you very much.

Right, so where does all this leave me now?
Well, I'm still tired. And hungry. And yes, a bit tired too (wait did I mention that already?)
Ok, before you think I'm drunk too, I'm gonna make a dignified exit, lift my legs with both my hands, lie down on bed and crash.

I do, after all, deserve tonight's sleep don't I?

:D

Yours shopping-ly,

Confounded-Lady

Foot-note: Oh btw, we ended up taking both the above mentioned colours at the end of the day. Yes, these shop-keepers are a nasty influence on us gullible juntha. But what to do? Both colours were stunning. So much for complexion, flattery and all that jazz.

:D

Looks like I won't be needing that cat after all.

I hear Valentine's Day is round the corner.


Think I should buy myself a cat.

(Sigh)

The Girl and her Make-over

There was once a girl I knew
Whose need for a make-over wantonly grew,
Till one day she thought,
A parlour, why not?
A few hundreds would help her look anew.

So off she skipped to the place,
On fixing an appointment just in case.
It felt rather strange,
That she needed a change
From the old look she strived to erase.

Slowly as the hours passed,
She waited anxiously to compare and contrast.
But to her utmost dismay,
The makeover they'd conveyed,
Seemed to be horribly-terribly miscast.

Despite all the flattery there,
She said to them fare and square.
That the work they'd done,
Looked like a prank for fun!
And that it would invite nothing but an embarassing glare.

Having said, she went back home,
Feeling so forlorn, enraged and glum.
Because the makeover she tried to see
Was just not meant to be,
But, she still wasn't rid of the syndrome.

A sudden idea by which she was inspired,
Gave her that makeover for which she'd perspired.
She spent all the time she could get,
After logging into the Internet,
To achieve what she really desired.

The Blog she'd treasured for long,
Looked like it could do with a new song.
So she removed all the green,
Threw in some yellow, black and some *bees,
After which her blog just seemed to look strong.

This was the Makeover she wanted all along!
And all of a sudden, nothing seemed so wrong.

So, here's to my make-over. The makeover of some sort.

So long! :)


*Bees doesn't rhyme with green the way Limericks would customarily be structured...but what the heck, sue me.

To the Unsung, with Love

* Please see End-of-Post for Disclaimer

Its the moral duty of every Indian in this country to suddenly have an overwhelming sense of patriotism and pride when Independence Day or Republic Day is round the corner. Wouldn't you agree ? Can't really blame him though. After all, it isn't Independence Day everyday,is it?

I, just like the rest of the faithful population of this country, have never failed to feel specially patriotic on these two days. Suddenly thinking of our country's reach heritage, discussing topics of national importance in the living room while parents glare incredulously, watching Mera-BhArat-mahAn- movies on the telly and clapping at the end-scene, sporting the tri-colour flag on self (and fervently searching for it the very evening) ......yep, thats (y)our typical day of national pride.
Typical for me, till Republic Day this year.

This 26th, it dawned on me that patriotism in our country was just a farce. It was merely another reason to celebrate, to commemorate, to felicitate. At the end of the day, National-Day for the mass juntha and mass media was just celebration of the popular, commemoration of the powerful and felicitation of the glamorous.

National Awards, Felicitations, Indian-of-the-Year titles...all of them. I'm not condemning them(like someone would care a hoot if I did). Its just the spirit with which they're conducted, the people, the frivolity, the unserisouness.

A few points that really disturbed me the more I thought about them.

1. The Indian-of-the-Year Award given away by a popular-news-channel sounded like a major deal to me. You were after all, the 'Indian-of-the-year' if you were awarded this big chunk of metal and you probably did deserve it if you were chosen amongst thousands of people who have put the nation ahead of their personal lives and contributed to this country's well-being unconditionally. You were our example and we, the youth would look up to you.

But no. It wasn't about all that. Its never about all that.

What I don't understand is why every important political/national function in our country is made to look like a Cultural (read Filmfare) festival. Tell me, amidst dignitaries like Manmohan Singh and Dr. A P J Abdul Khalam (whom I think is God's gift to a country that doesn't appreciate a blessing when it sees one) , do we really need a Shilpa Shetty, a mother of Shilpa Shetty and a Karan Johar in the same hall ? When there are men/gods like Ratan Tata whose keep a promise of delivering the 1 lakh-rupee car only because a promise is a promise, do we need a Shah Rukh Khan or a Rajnikanth to bag an Indian-of-the-year award for some insignificant category?

Why is everything in our country about movies? Cant we honour our country and its men even once without the presence of the movie folks? Do they always have to be the star of the show? Cant we do without frivolity at least once?

Tragic.

2. Captain Harshan like the rest of our brave soldiers receives the Param Vir Chakra award this year. After he'd dead.

Call me dumb, but what was the point again? Who are we honouring by the way? Dead people? Dead soldiers? While actors and actresses get Padma-Shrees one after the other by singing tra-la-la, louder with each time, the country hesitates so much in honouring our soldiers while they live. Am I the only one failing to see some sense in this? If soldiers are appreciated for their heroism and bravery after they die, I'm sure the same rule can hold good for the rest of our country's population whom they guard and protect till their very last breadth. Lets all get awards after we die. Sounds like fun na?

Tragic. Very.

Right. I really don't think I have the right to say anything more considering that I'm a part of the majority of this nation that just criticizes but doesn't do anything about it. Criticize I shall 'cos I do have a point and this is my blog but I don't disagree that I'm culpable in some way or the other. Sometimes you have the urge to to something for the country, and that burning desire dies down without a trace the next second you confront your daily-problems.

But I'm sure all of us do ask ourselves the same question sometimes if not all the time. What can we really do for this nation?

What, pray, what?

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*DISCLAIMER: The contents of this blog are purely my personal views. I don't impose my thoughts on anyone. Please don't scold me. :D

Janma sAbalyam

26.01.2008

Befuddled and Not-so-Bemused.

Excepting for senti-dialogues thrown at me unexpectedly and my mom's impeccable timing for an argument, there are a very few things in this planet that leave me flustered or make me succumb to inarticulate-fumblings during a conversation.

However, much to my dismay, I've recently come to realise that Yours Loquaciously isn't invincible after all (sob!) and is astonishingly incapable of handling certain critical questions posed at her wherein which she is forced to go parch on words.

Questions that leave me frightfully befuddled:



1. "Whats up? "

The worst one of them all. This one leaves me super-stumped without fail.
Try as I might, I just cannot think of a suitable reply for this question. Period.

All of its amusing varieties- the rhetoric version of 'whats up' or the cool-slurry 'ssup girlie', leave me equally tongue tied, wondering whether to give my cliched 'Oh..err..nothing really' reply or just a sheepish grin. Or do I really tell them whats up? Do they really want to know?
I don't know.
I really don't know.
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2. "So...what else? "

Kitchens run out of butter, houses run out of soap (pardon my ingenious exmaples that scream pathetic all over). If a conversation runs out of topics to sustain its existence, its only decent to bail out.
'So..what else?' is NOT the ideal way to protract this conversation. Not with me.
This one SO puts me off that I just want to flee at that very instant, let alone rattle my head for a witty comeback.

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3. "What plans for future?"

Invasion of Cambodia. Thats my future plan. Interested any further?

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4. " So, (sly grin) when are you getting married?"

Now really, does it honestly matter to you when I'm getting married? Actually, do you really think I wouldn't let you know if and when I knew?

I mean, for the eternal loud-mouth I am, I'd probably be screaming at the top of my lungs from roof tops once I was getting hitched. Trust me, I'm no Saif Ali Khan on this one. So, why don't we just save me from becoming all squeamish when we're were doing just fine so far?



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There!
Except for the above mentioned, I really am delightful company if I do say so myself and you may very well invite me for high-tea whenever you want, and I shall gladly do the honours of indulging in professional small-talk. Not to mention, the weather and everybody's health. (Courtesy: Henry Higgins)



I really do have problems, don't I?

Its a CAT's Life

Tell me you didn't know that the CAT results are out and I will look at you like you were the scum of the Earth. Not that I care a tad about CAT results (never cared for 'em even when I wrote them but wait, I didn't have to tell you that did I? ) ...its just that its 'implications' are so remarkably relevant.

You see, Oh-Patient-Reader-of-Blog, its a highly title based society we live in.
This ideal society is so full of camouflaged pretence that would even make British High Society look humble.
No really, I'm not being cynical about this, really, I've observed with due course of time, what examination-results do in this painstakingly pretentious society of ours.

One admit into the 'reputed institutes' and your image in society undergoes a total makeover. So, all of a sudden that weird freak you'd never noticed in college or that reserved teammate at work who'd never turn up for social gatherings, is now our long-lost hero, that close friend we never 'had the opportunity' to talk to but now desperately crave to socialise with.

hmm...am I making sense? Or is it just my head?
Never mind, lets just not answer that thank you very much.

You know, there was a time when I thought of doing a decent MBA, you know, accomplish something in life, make daddy proud of his li'l girl 'n all that jazz. Of course, that thought dissipated into thin air before I could even say Eye-Eye-Yum-Ay.

So now what am I doing ?
Well what do all Once-Upon-A-Time-CAT-Aspirants do best?
Tell our comrades to work hard the next time. Give CAT gyaan over GTALK and be their source of motivation. Tell them that if they can't do it, no one can and that you need to see that IIM glory you never saw, through them.
So, you see, when they actually do go somewhere and you...well..don't, you can at least tap their shoulders and say 'See, I told you. Now where's my candy?'

After all, like I always say, ' If you cant beat them... kick 'em.'

Here endeth thy lesson. Now, let the games begin.



PS: I'm just kidding Sahil/Bhaumik. I really do hope that you guys get into that insti in Ahemadabad.

:D